Respectfully we made very few QOL gains because all of the QOL gains were based on staffing. There are better rules for when the operation melts down and we are extended or we are forced to work another day. As far as trading or being able to drop days, for many these gains were never realized as the staffing does not allow for these drops or trades. We rarely have proper staffing at this airline and currently the jr pilots are suffering for it. Hence the strong attrition on year 1 and 2 pilots.

The grumbling over "snap" language is just the beginning as far as I am concerned. Just wait until PBS is implemented. The language of PBS allows lines to be pushed up to 87 hours. It is right there in the letter. I speak with many on the line that say. "Oh no PBS will only allow up to 78 hours". That is not the language that the group agreed to. It is right there for all to read. On flex months the average line value can be pushed to 87 hours.

This is the next "great expectation" moment that for many will be a big let down.

 

Shouldn't the trailing line value prevent them from doing that? Or at least prevent them from doing it often?

I 100% agree though that without proper staffing the whole thing falls apart. Currently they are allowed a flex month for every month in which there are enough block hours for it to matter, and now as a union we have graciously allowed them to staff with 200% premium as well (not that they need it when 150% is good enough).

 

I'd suggest reading the language. I am not a lawyer so I could be misinterpreting the language. Giving it another look it does appear the average line value during a flex month could be pushed to 88 hours. This month for August it is 86 hours. PBS can't make trips disappear. At SkyWest when trips were forced onto your line the symbol CN appeared. Company Needs. I don't know what the mechanism will be called here at AS but I am sure it will exist.

I did not include the flex up language which has a lot of caveats for 6 months max and a given number of hours 3 hour max per month, etc... Here is the language:

Range: Bid Blocks of Time will be arranged to give the maximum number of Pilots a Bid Block that will be constructed between seventy-five (75:00) and eighty-five hours (85:00), or as set forth in Section 12.E.1.a [Flex Up Months]subject to Section 12.E.1. [Pay and Flight Time Credit] or as agreed to by the parties per Section 23.A.2.b.(2).

Average Line Value (ALV): The ALV is the number of all known Credit Hours, to include pre-assigned Credit, established by the Company that is the projected average of all Bid Block holder PBS awards for a Base Position in a Bid Period. The ALV shall be between seventy-two hours (72:00) and eighty five hours (85:00). A PBS solution must remain plus two hours (2:00) and minus one hour (1:00) of the published ALV

 

We're going to have to disagree on that, but maybe what I should've said was the "QOL gains negotiated into the new contract" . Many of our provisions haven't kicked in as yet, but agreed that it will require the staffing level to make it function as intended.

I'm sure you've seen the implementation time line of which there are still many items yet to kick in, so I'm going to reserve final judgment until then. However, I am optimistic.

 

I hope I'm sitting in a 787 next year, everyone got a big raise on September 1, jr FOs can trade, drop and have great schedule flexibility and are trying to bid into my wide body FO position. In other words I hope I'm wrong about a lot of things.

 

*looks at neighbors wife*

*looks at own wife*

”I shoulda waited. I got a bad deal.”




Reality: for better or worse, you’re hitched to her. Leaving her is too expensive now. Management knows it. It’s not you they care about, it’s the sub 5 yr crowd they want to get to stay so those can then one day also be too senior to leave/start over.



I’d respect the anger crowd side if they at least admit the want Delta pay for themselves - nothing to do with stopping attrition. For the reasons I’ve written many times over, money is not gonna stop attrition. I was hired here at 27. If I was 27 again, not even $380 12th yr would get me to stay here. Why would that youngster limit himself to 5 west coast bases, MAX, and slow retirements? The math doesn’t add up. It isn’t just about money.

 

I want Delta pay for myself. I want Delta pay for you, too. And who knows what Delta pay would do for attrition. There's a lot of personal pride with being paid "the best." That alone could slow attrition. By the way, we're not talking about 100% effectiveness. Just slowing departures and increasing arrivals. That's all.

You're too arrogant to admit that adding money might help in those areas.

THERE IT IS. HUMBLEBRAG ALERT.

 

Here's the problem with most of your statements of fact.

You think that all 100,000 pilots think exactly the same way you do. That they're motivated by the same things, and share the same values. You apply your own opinions and extrapolate results.

I can assure you, Shy, that very few pilots think the way you do.

 

The question I ask then is why are you still here? Especially with where your seniority is at in LAX. You tell everyone else to apply, so a guy at your age and base seniority should act on what he says. I don’t have that long left and I want the best for this pilot group. Delta pay should absolutely be what we have with the profits of this company. Anyone under 45 should be out of here.

 

The negotiating committee did their job and they did it well…They were tasked with getting a contract done and they did. 80 plus percent validated that. No one should criticize those individuals.